An Issue To Unite The Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street And The Righteous?

By Cedric Muhammad -Guest Columnist- | Last updated: Dec 7, 2011 - 8:38:01 AM

The Fed and FOIA

“Partisan politics must die if America is to live.”
- Minister Louis Farrakhan, “A Torchlight For America”

“The founders did not design or contemplate the Federal Reserve System we have today.”
- Allan H. Meltzer; “A History Of The Federal Reserve, Volume 1”

Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building, Washington, D.C.

'Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to form professional and friendly relationships with those who describe themselves as ‘on the Left’ or ‘on the Right.’ It is striking to see how each side misses or avoids potential or even obvious points of agreement with one another that could result in the best interests of America.'

“This is an issue that can unite the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. There are lawmakers in both parties who would change their votes now.”

- U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, quoted by Bloomberg in ‘Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks Undisclosed $13B’ Nov. 27, 2011

“Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay.”
Bible - Daniel 2 : 41

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, during his October 9, 2011 message in Philadelphia, “Atonement, Reconciliation and Responsibility,’ and in subsequent interviews has spoken of or to the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party movements in a very unique manner.

On November 16, 2011 at the annual CATO Institute Monetary Conference, I finally had a chance to meet and thank Professor Allan H. Meltzer of Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Meltzer is a respected historian and author who also has advised international governments and American administrations on economic matters. I expressed my gratitude to Mr. Meltzer for the portion of his book, “A History Of The Federal Reserve Volume 1: 1913-1951,” wherein he mentions that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is not covered by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

After conveying my sentiment to Professor Meltzer, he looked at me pointedly and said, ‘None of the regional Fed banks are covered by the Freedom of Information Act.’ To this I responded, “Right, only the Federal Reserve Board of Governors are covered under the Act,” to which Professor Meltzer nodded and replied “That’s correct.” He was referring to the 12 regional banks of the Federal Reserve which exist in the following cities: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco.

One day in a group discussion he was leading, I heard the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan raise the possibility of where these 12 banks may be written of in scripture. He used the word, ‘… could’ and then indicated this was only something he was mulling over. He then set the thought aside and moved on in discussion. My mind immediately went to two of Minister Farrakhan’s speeches—one in 1992 and the other in 1995—wherein he spoke at length about the Federal Reserve.

Why should Minister Farrakhan’s thoughts on the Federal Reserve System matter at all or in relation to anything written of in the Bible or Holy Qur’an? Why should this be mentioned in relation to the words of an eminent economist like Mr. Meltzer?

Part of my answer is found in these words from an article published on November 27, 2011 in Bloomberg, ‘Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks Undisclosed $13B’:

“The Fed didn’t tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn’t mention that they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy. And no one calculated until now that banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed’s below-market rates, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its January issue.

… A fresh narrative of the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 emerges from 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions. While Fed officials say that almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, details suggest taxpayers paid a price beyond dollars as the secret funding helped preserve a broken status quo and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger.”

This news [along with the July 2011 partial audit of the Fed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a significant form of progress for those who have sought greater details on the workings of the Federal Reserve System, yet it hardly scratches the surface of what would be discovered if one were able to read a complete audit of all 12 regional banks of the Federal Reserve which are still not covered under FOIA.

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to form professional and friendly relationships with those who describe themselves as ‘on the Left’ or ‘on the Right.’ It is striking to see how each side misses or avoids potential or even obvious points of agreement with one another that could result in the best interests of America. Monetary policy is one such area. The two foremost critics of the Fed on the Left and Right within the American political establishment are Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. Mr. Sanders is ideologically a Socialist while Mr. Paul is ideologically a Libertarian.

Might we ever see the day when the Federal Reserve System is brought completely under FOIA? What would such a ‘day’ look like? What kind of leadership—political, spiritual and cultural—could bring it about? What events and circumstances would lead up to such a dramatic and defining moment?

I believe that if both the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street understood the scriptural exegesis contained in the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s book “Fall of America” and accepted the same, with extended insights from Minister Louis Farrakhan’s “A Torchlight For America,” a coalition across creed, class, color and partisan affiliation could emerge.

This process would also require Members of the Nation Of Islam to get fully into Minister Farrakhan’s spirit, example and attitude toward the skillful use of the English language and the scriptures. Minister Farrakhan gave a recent brilliant example on Brother Robert Muhammad’s ‘Connect The Dots’ program. Years ago, he gave a now legendary example in answering a question regarding The Muslim Program posed to him by the late Tim Russert on the Meet The Press program.

As he has previously written, Brother Jabril Muhammad states the Honorable Elijah Muhammad told him that he (the Honorable Elijah Muhammad) knew the exact year when he would have ten million followers.

Are all of these 10 million going to be ‘Black-skinned?’

(Cedric Muhammad is a monetary economist, political strategist and brand manager. He is the author of ‘The Entrepreneurial Secret’ book series [http://www.theesecret.com]. Cedric does not provide investment advice but has a referral relationship with SDL Numismatic Properties Inc. - a specialist in rare coin investments. To enjoy a discount, please visit: http://www.usgoldcoins.com or call 1-800-878-2646 and utilize code ‘cmcap.’)

The Final Call